17:25 And as another day of the BMA’s Annual Representatives Meeting draws to a conclusion, it appears another big vote has been passed..
#BreakingNews #ARM2016 @TheBMA votes to move the funding for @gmcuk away from doctors
— Krishna Kasaraneni (@Dr_Kasaraneni) June 21, 2016
16:35 A GP in Wales has taken the brave decision to call it a day on her career in general practice, and take up a new hobby instead – baking.
Dr Rachael Watson, a GP in Monmouthshire, Wales, was on the verge of becoming the partner of her GP practice – but later realised the long hours, intensity and pressure of the job got too much for her and decided against it, the BBC reports.
Dr Watson instead decided to quit her surgery to become a baker and part-time GP locum.
It comes after a poll by the RCGP found that 56% of GPs in Wales either planned on reducing their hours or quitting during the next five years.
‘I felt like I was going to jump into a black hole where my family life and personal life would get swallowed up. I never wanted to give being a GP up, I wanted something to run in parallel to get a bit more balance,’ said Dr Watson.
‘When I started there was time to speak to the other GPs to discuss complicated issues, but now that has gone. On one day I worked out I had some kind of contact with 107 patients. That’s seven minutes a patient.’
15:30 Google is planning to build an app that alerts doctors when patients are at risk from kidney injuries.
The Mirror reports that it will also soon be changing the way symptom-related search results are displayed, and has worked with doctors to produce lists of related conditions, information on self-treatment and whether you need to go and see your GP.
It follows a recent information-sharing agreement between Google and the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust, which saw Google gaining access to 1.6 million patient records. The technology company has insisted that all the data was anonymous and encrypted.
12:50 The BMA’s Annual Representative Meeting has voted down a motion calling on the BMA to adopt a ‘neutral stance’ on assisted dying. As a result, the BMA’s existing policy – which opposes assisted dying – will continue.
It was a close(ish) run thing:
In #Belfast@thebma rejects adopting a neutral stance on #AssistedDying#ARM2016pic.twitter.com/0vKDGSeu6y
— Prof Andrew Rowland (@DrAndrewRowland) June 21, 2016
12:10 Patients at a practice in London are petitioning Prime Minister David Cameron and the Queen to intervene to stop NHS England from putting it out to tender.
The Brent & Kilburn Times reports that the three-year contract with Integrated Health CIC is ending and it is now being procured against huge public opposition. A petition to stop the tender process has 229 signatures.
Last month, Grace Balogan – the patient leading the campaign – took a 3,700 signature petition to the headquarters of NHS Improvement.
Ms Balogan said: ‘I am calling on David Cameron, Jeremy Hunt and the Queen to intervene and ask NHS England to take my doctor’s practice out of the tender now.’
11:20 The voting for RCGP chair is now open:
RCGP Council Members can now cast their vote on candidates standing for Chair, here: https://t.co/yYak1rKmPx. Voting closes 12pm, 1 July.
— RCGP (@rcgp) June 21, 2016
09.30 Almost half of adults in the UK are living with chronic pain, according to a study from Imperial College London.
Researchers with access to medical details for 140,000 UK adults found 43% of adults had been in pain for more than three months.
The likelihood significantly increased with age – the prevalence is almost two-thirds among over-75s – but would extrapolate to as many as 28 million British people, reports the Daily Mail.
They also found as many as three in 10 adults aged 18-39 could be suffering long-term pain.
Olivia Belle, from the charity Arthritis Research UK, said: ‘This is an important study, which starkly shows the devastating impact that chronic pain is having on people in the UK.
‘As our population continues to age and obesity rates rise, we are only going to see these numbers grow.’
